An Inner Battle
by Charlie Renold
Summary: Wthin the confides of his own thoughts, Nightclaw must fight off the constant nagging regret brought down by his overwhelming conscious. Will he be able to overcome the issues for another day? Or perhaps there's something more to this? Names of other characters are all friends to Nightclaw's character, and Zaven is described as so within the story. Hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

The sun had vanished due to the intensity of the oncoming storm that was beginning to fill the unlimited skies and shift the emotions to an over expelling feeling of dread and discomfort. The constant thunder and lightning shocks dashed and roared throughout the atmosphere, brightening the area for literal flashes of seconds before dimming back down to its darkened shades of dusk that illuminated the dull and abandoned landscaping of the once luscious plains. The reminiscences of the beautiful lilies and gorgeously hued grass blades that were once graciously blowing within the summer breezes had now disappeared, only leaving behind the small evidences of shrivelled up blades and dead brown pieces mixed in with overgrowing soil and dirt. In the overflowing anxiety and constant panic that the nature alone was already creating on the plains that housed the memories of a beautiful majestic area now having vanished, we were adding the pressures in with a few built in of our own.

Within the shadows of the dusk and black clouded sky, we both remained hidden. I could only see his silhouette, but I knew he could only see mine as well. Within the few flashes that were seemingly gliding and shocking just above us and following with an overpowering roar of anger, small glimpses of our beings were able to be depicted out and scanned. However the distance that we both made for each other proved to be more than an easy task. Being a good few metres away, it was only possible for me to know that there was a being standing in front of me. Even better to know, that it was _him_ standing in front of me.

Soon light and gentle rain began to pass by and lightly fall along my skin. I could feel the trickling of the thin, microscopic sprinkling as it gathered in large enough pacts to slide down and off of my hide. Everything taken into my account done by nature, I could instantly tell was happening to him as much. Not an importantly needed fact to know, but doing so was helping to keep my mind focused. I needed that. I desperately needed that at this point. My body shaking and trembling from many things and my brain beginning to slow itself from the ability to process were only two of the many major issues needing to be dealt with. And now a breeze. A very soft, yet spine tingling breeze. That was definitely helping my current situation. The water was lightly coating and gliding along my body more with the winds help, able to lead and guide its way through scales and the recent scratches and moderate wounds. Great. That stung.

However, my eyes never were taken off of that silhouette, as if my life depended on it. For it did. The overdramatizing experience that I was being able to witness first-hand was just that, but for all the right reasons instead of all the false ones. To think that there was more than just my life on the line during this. To think that I was protecting more than just myself at this exact moment in time, despite just being the only one here with this… Thing. To have the trust flung at me multiple times as flashes of instantaneous memory splotches and blasts deep within my brain was entirely unsettling at best, but it helped me remain focus on my goal. To exterminate this being.

However, he just remained dead still and quiet. His figure never moving, but with another recent lightning strike, I was able to easily tell that he was doing the same thing I was. Staring right back at me, but with a grin so devious and horrifying, that it didn't look natural. It didn't look real.

_Then again, how can something that isn't real look real?_

This isn't real…? No, it has to be. It looked real. 'It' was right in front of me! How could it not be real? Anything that you can see is real, isn't it?

_No. It's not. It can't be. It isn't._

I was beginning to become sucked into my minds horrible tricks as it attempted to convince me for the sake of my sanity's level dropping to a horrific low. My mind raced, and slowed. It quickened, and stopped. It throbbed, and relaxed. The process would only continue to happen as I stared at this being, and so it did. Time just seemed to freeze, but the actions around us continued to move. Rain softly dribbling, wind gently blowing, body movements still except for the naturally flowing ones, such as my ears that seemed to flop and wave softly with the wind's patterns, and the somewhat hard-to-control gentle breathing as I caught my breath, my constantly fast-paced heart unable to aid me. I felt frozen, against my will, as if stuck in a picture that had come alive for the outside viewer's enjoyment.

Another lightning strike. My eyes squinted gently to shield away from the brightness and focus further on the figure in front of me. The being in front of me had the instant illusion that I was staring into a dimmed mirror, only with a few very small details being different. Body was the same, as well as all the features. The only significant and, truthfully very tiny, changes that were present consisted of the change in colours of his eyes, markings, and above all, the complete aura that he seemed to release from his presence of just standing a few feet in front of me. That alone was enough to send me into a taunting frenzy of complete remorse and regret. The power of his stares and the feeling that he was constantly exposing me to, even at a large distance, left me feeling unsafe and nerve-wrecked. I was partially frozen in fear besides the obvious scanning that was being performed on him. The evil gaze that he was constantly giving off was one of the reasons I hated him so much.

_It was one of the reasons I hated myself so much._

Amid the mist of all of the emotions and constant silence, nature's sounds were the only noises being heard and playing for us. The ambiance of the minute played with the loud crashing of thunder and the gentle trickling of rain mixed in the sounds of wind. Still, my eyes were never taken off of what was lying right in front of me. The shadow of a being so evil and horrifying, that just the being standing in front of you send chills down your spine and your blood running cold. I could only say that from experience. But there was something else odd about this reflection of my own being. There was something else that was a little shocking about the presence that was making it known to me. Within the rain, flashes of light and shading of the darkness that it stood in, it didn't seem to be exactly there. It faded and flowed with the wind and movement, out and back in again, like a mirage. Like it was fake.. Like it wasn't real.

_Because it wasn't real._

My brain just throbbed again, and my eyes squinted from the pain, still locked into the area where the mirage-like figure, watching it fade more into my view the minute the pain surged, and returning as the pain disappeared. It continually shifted constantly with my vision's adjustments. In and out it distorted and shaped, disappearing for fractions before reappearing for minutes longer. What was going on here? Was I crazy? Well, I already knew the honest answer to that question, but being able to ask my own being that just helped with the clarification that there wasn't _too_ much entirely wrong with me. But, enough to witness the misunderstanding events of the constantly disappearing and reappearing figure in front of me was just about enough evidence to prove that my already declining brain was reaching points of critical danger.

After a long matter of a few minutes that drifted apart like hours, the sound of an entirely new type was enough to make my ears perk up slightly in surprise at the completely different noise from the natural sounds that we both were adjusted and used to for the tensed period of time. The sound that was distinguished from the rest of the natural nature sounds was just another reason to make my blood freeze to a complete stop. A voice. His voice. It was crass and bold, and at an extremely unnatural octave, about two levels lower, which produced a very deep and almost demonic type of sound. However, the voice was clear and powerful. It spoke out one word to me and grabbed my attention entirely.

"Nightclaw."

My head was perked and now more attentive on the figure in front of me. My eyes locked onto the figure as it spoke just two syllables to have gained my entire focus. My eyes softly squinted to block the falling raindrops, and they immediately widened as the voice continued its thought.

"You still have energy to stand. I am impressed."

The wording seemed to sync perfectly with the thunder as another one lightly clapped above us, leaving a gentle thrum echoing throughout the atmosphere. Staring in the direction where the figure was, I opened my maw very slightly, attempting to form the words ready in my mind before finally widening enough to stutter out a few, my normal octave sounding high pitched compared to his, but actually being a decently low tone. "I… I always… Seem to find the energy."

The voice chuckled at me, and a small flash of light shown over his face to reveal his even more devilish smirk as he began to talk. "Heh Heh… So it always seems to be. I have yet to understand your extreme persistence."

I eyes blinked twice as I shaped and arched an eyebrow, now feeling a little risky in my tone. "How could you be confused? You know me more than anyone else."

The voice grew quiet, the silhouette looking down a little at my wording. "Yes, that is a true statement." His shadow then looked his head back in my direction, the tone literally forming his grin in my head as he answered with a cocky expression. "Kind of an ironic statement, at that."

I slowly backed down, becoming more serious in my reply. "Yes… Very ironic…"

His head tilted to the side a bit, now actually beginning to take one very slow step at a time as he spoke. My heart fluttered nervously. "And how it is ironic to you?"

I backed up only one step, knowing I could not get away if I ran, and instead held my ground. "Why are you being the one to ask? You know it as well as I. Don't force me to hurt myself by saying it…"

"Oh, don't worry. I have another way for how I can do that." His voice softly exclaimed as he continued his light steps towards me. Another heart skipped in my chest. Now only 10 metres away from me. It seemed as if he was approaching fast. However, I wasn't focused on the distance of his steps and his position. I was more or less focused on the words he was speaking. "However, I like hearing when you explain about things. It makes me… Smile."

"It's probably one of the only few things that does make you smile honestly." I spoke back in a sort of harsh tone. That probably wasn't smart in the position I was in myself.

He only chuckled slightly as he blew my words clean off his shoulders, and only made another light step in my direction. 8 Metres now. "Now, now… Come on… Explain it. For me. I want to hear it again because I'm such a nice guy. Now, why would you say such a statement as that?"

My head shifted a bit downwards, looking at the ground as I lightly murmured out the words. "Because… Because… You're crazy?"

He snarled, and seemed to take a more powerful and longer stride. 4 Metres now. "Don't play retarded with me. Answer my question correctly, please. Why…?"

I flinched lightly and agreed, only saying the answer bluntly. "Because… You know me?"

"And why's that?"

"Because… Because you… Are…"

"'Are…'? What? Speak up. I can't hear you…" His voice was light and attempting to sound innocent, but was only playing the response of his evil benevolence.

".. You, are me?"

His movements finally slowed down slightly as he exhaled out once in satisfaction. "Aaah, there it is… Just the words I wanted to hear."

My lips were gently clenched by my upper teeth as I softly nodded. My brain was beginning to remind me during the panic. The figure was… Me. But, the area was outside in the real world? Or was it also my imagination? Blood was running down my neck. I could feel it. No, most likely it was real. I was going to stick with that until I was given more proof. Then the thing in front of me was… real? No, fake. He was an illusion. A very bad one. My mind was in critical condition, so it has to have been just my imagination. But, how can imagination hurt so badly? How can it leave real scars? But.. Did I really want to figure this out on my own right now? Especially now considering that he was right in—

My eyes quickly scooted and stared in front, his silhouetted body right in front, and our snouts were connected very slightly. I could finally make our his features from being so close, the only differences being the bloody eyes that stared deep into mine, and the devilish grin that was portrayed. _He was right in front of me. _His breath wasn't warm, it was… Cold. Freezing, actually. All the better to have me shivering. Great. Nevertheless, he only continued to talk, but his words were becoming beautifully threatening. "You want me to make those wounds larger to become identical to the one on your face? I'd be happy to oblige…"

My throat tensed as I forced a small gulp of saliva down into my stomach, tensing more from the situation and from the intense stare that he was giving me. I could be brave. I could be strong and not fear the things outside of me. I could protect myself from the outside. However, how could I do the same to the things that were happening on the _inside_? How do I protect myself from… Myself? The only thing that was more terrifying than the fact that I couldn't do a thing to protect myself, was the truth of now being just a twitch away from having my neck sliced, and having to remain entirely still. My quivering body was not cooperating. Still, he smiled, as if he was mentally and physically possessed by the devil. Or perhaps, already was a demon to begin with. Oh, wait. He kind of was.

The lightning and thunder continued to sound and shoot sporadically, as the precipitation had now reached a light rain. My voice and my courage were beginning to pick up after being drastically reduced by his one comment. If I couldn't protect myself, there would be no use to try. But there is always a reason to try, so I obviously could. Could I defeat it entirely? Not sure, but I know I could hold him back long enough to not attack me once again. So if I held him back successfully, that counted as a victory, right?... I don't know, but however that worked, it sounded plausible. The way to win this victory, was to be able to defeat him enough to hold him back if I was unable to do much else. It was definitely worth a good shot. That or try defeating him entirely. That was also a good idea. Finding whatever courage that was stashed away back through my body, I perked myself up slightly, and answered in a tone and answer that was probably never supposed to be said. "I wouldn't touch me unless you want the same fate for you. In fact, it would probably be better for you. If you were broken enough, others wouldn't have to be discriminated with such an ugly sight."

The entire area seemed to suddenly freeze in a slow motion stop. All the rain ceased, the wind instantly calmed, the storm and thunder cleared. And there we stand, in utter silence. The time that was given for me to recap what the hell I just said. Oh… Oh great. No. I didn't mean that. No, I did. I meant every word. As bad as it sounded, I had to stay strong with this.

His eyes scrunched up, as he just uttered very lightly under his breath, a very angry side becoming known. "What the hell did you just say to me?..."

Mine also scrunched, but not for the reason of being angry. But, I had to make it assume that way. I had to be strong. No more. This would end and be put to rest for another day. I snarled slightly, my fangs becoming bare at the faintest area on the very end of my lips, as I replied back to him. "You heard me…"

It was that point I knew I passed the point of no return. There was nothing else I could say that would help calm him down if I wanted to escape. I had made my choice and I was going to proudly stand to it. He nodded once, gladly accepting my challenge that was hidden within my language, as he slowly lifted a paw and rubbed his sharpened claw down my neck in a fidgety fashion, the ends buffed to be sharp like talons. His voice was calm, but truthfully mischievous. "You do realize, if I wanted to, I could slice your neck open in two at this very moment… Why make a stupid decision to say such words?"

"Because someone needed to tell you them…"

"So you volunteered yourself… Great to know…" His claw was soon moved from my neck, and I breathed a very heavy sign from inside. But his words didn't seem to give. "Tell you what… Why don't you prove those words into action, then."

My heart skipped four beats and exploded once before somehow rebuilding itself from its pieces. This was the opportunity laying itself out for me. He was giving me another invitation for a final decision. I eyed him with a glare of acceptance. "Why don't I, then…?"


	2. Chapter 2

The rain immediately began the second my sentence was completed, a large lightning strike and thunder clap happening in very quick intervals from one another, and a larger wind blast shooting across the plains. As if that wasn't enough to startle me, the creature's face in front of me unleashed a loud, deep, and blood-curdling shriek-like roar, extending and flashing all of its sharp fangs at once. My pupils dilated. I felt myself stiffen in shock, just stuck staring straight at the event in front of me and around me, before my eyes scanned below at a fast moving motion towards me. Using a fast enough reflex, I quickly jumped back and scooted myself away, inspecting the large paw that was swiped at me to attempt the first blow. The rain was soon a consistent light rain once again, and the clouds had dissipated to remove the lightning and thunder effect, now showing just grey clouds with a little more light from the intense sun shading. My eyes were fixed on him now entirely, my body naturally placed in a cautious stance. He softly returned back to his normal position as he spoke with a head lowered low. "You are very foolish to attempt to hold me back again, you know that? Such a shame that I'll have to show you again that you'll be easily defeated. Each day you get weaker, and every battle is harder. Just give up, you'll lose eventually." His head peered as he smiled wickedly. "Perhaps even today."

My voice soon shouted as I felt a small bubble of rage pop. "Over my dead body!"

His head raised a bit as he chuckled, an obviously deathly plan now shaped in his mind. "Exactly." Then, sudden lightning flash. My vision was blinded with a bright sheet of white before dying out quickly, his body now right in front of mine once again, a paw swung at me in slow motion, but his words spoken normally.

"_Let's get to it then, shall we…?"_

With the swing of the paw now at normal speed, it proved to be a pretty lethal blow straight into my cheek, smashing me to the side and sending me into a flurry of tumbles and twists. All I saw was a blurry spin, and all I felt were constant intense pressures and sudden body slams everywhere along my body. Eventually I stopped, and the pain suddenly hit me all at once, leaving me in a piled huffing heap, blood smeared and dripping down my cheek from the scratch wound. I inhaled deeply and jumped to my feet, staring at deep attention. No more goofing around. Time to get serious. My wings were extended out, flapped once for balance and readjustment to its power. With my eyes now locked on, my markings all flashed brightly once in unison, and my chest tightened to release a loud battle roar out towards him. Knowing that didn't shake him one bit, it was more used for me to pump myself up, which I would need at this point. This fight was going to get messy.

With a quick kick start, it began, and I was sent rocking towards my doppelganger at a heavy speed. With the practical weight of a semi-truck, but the speed of a rocket heading around Mach 1, it was pretty hard to avoid, at least in my perspective. To him, however, it would seem I wasn't going fast enough, as he was able to swiftly jump over me and land with his maw now facing the direction I was darting away from. With the loud sound of rushing wind, my ear flicked as I quickly dived, dodging a large glowing light of purple as a plasma bolt dashed over my head. A quick spiral twist of my body as I dived downward and a fast straightening with the ground had me level and resume dashing towards him. However, instead of allowing myself to continue, I extended my legs out now, charging out to air pounce against his body. When I noticed his body crouched for another jump, I smirked with my opportunity, and pulled up quickly with his leap, now crashing straight into him and sending us both upwards into the air.

From there, it was nothing but flurry swings, punches, and claws. Each and every blow that was attempted was blocked by the other in seemingly perfect sync, or somehow deflected by another counter attack. It raged on until clouds evaporated from around us, and a quick surprise blow knocked me off balance with his tail swiping at me. Spinning now in a light daze, it was just enough for a controlling strike along my neck with another claw, sending me plummeting straight down for the ground, a small trickle of blood following close behind. My head pounded along with each blow done to me from then on during the descent, and my skin ached with the pain of feeling swipes and claws. As I attempted to block and deflect, his maw was sprung open and soon clamped against my neck with a death grip, his fangs dug deep within my skin. My eyes widened out as I roared in pain, blood now spurting at a faster rate. My muscles quivered as my vision grew blurry from the aching. It didn't feel like I was just getting hurt from the pain. It felt, different. He wasn't just wounding me. It felt as if I was… growing weaker. Upon a quick inspection, the glow from my markings was beginning to happen against my own will, and was slowly fading. My eyes widened as much as they could.

_He was sucking the life out of me!_

My body was growing limp, but not weak enough to keep me from tucking my paws from underneath his body and giving a violent kick forward, the blow being successful in throwing the leeching parasite off of me, the harsh grip he had tugging my skin at me before being forced out, leaving a good sized bite wound, a fairly large chunk of skin now being pulled out and even slightly removed. Ow. That hurt. Needless to say it was helpful. Ignoring the staggering amount of pain that was filling up from my insides during the fall, the kick was powerful enough to send me down a few metres lower than him during the descent, giving me just enough time to fire a regular sized plasma blast at his torso. With him unable to calculate the area, it was a direct hit, but was barely anything better than just spinning him off balance for a few moments. As he was distracted in an attempt to gain his balance, I focused my energy to blast with a large ice shard, but was barely stable at all once my eyes were closed and inspected my levels. My brainwaves were sporadic and hectic. All over the place, and were barely able to sit still for a single second, let alone for enough time to accumulate and form a blast. To make matters worse, until there was enough that reappeared after his first leeching, no power would prove to be a help by any means except for draining me too much to even move.

Stuck in this undeceiving moment, I had no choice but to defend myself once his uncontrolled motions were recalibrated, his wings flapped once in a harsh push to swing himself back down to me, resuming the flurry of swings as he screamed out his dialogue during the fall. "Do you really believe it was the smartest idea to do such a thing?! Don't you know you're putting at risk here with your foolish choices?!"

My brain was fighting back the ultimate decision of either shutting down entirely or pushing forward until the very end, but there was enough of a gasp of air during the onslaught of attacks to respond to him correctly. "I'll never give up to the likes of you!"

"So be it!" He snarled with a slitting of his pupils and a large snarl, now front flipping his body in a vertical loop, resulting his tail smashing straight down against my head, sending me in a back-to-back front flip during our never-ending fall back for the ground below. Once again, that vision of blurring and nothing but motion blur. I was starting to get sick of this. Eventually I held out my wings for a quick moment to stabilise myself, now staring straight at the air where he was. Or, wait. _Once_ was?! My eyes scanned immediately, and all I could spot were the red spots of red sprinkling blood that was falling in front of my eyes from the known wound to my neck. No body. Where did he—

Silence. Focus. I gently closed my eyes and tried to ignore all the other factors that were forcing their way into the front of my subconscious. Neck. Falling. Pain. Blood. Him. Where. Sounds? Movement? Wind. There was no use. My brain was moving too quickly to focus anything. I could barely calm myself down at this point. Straining to force my eyes open, I was soon greeted with the unfortunately truth. _He was behind me_. A sharp immediate pain in my back followed by my entire body forced into a tight arch were the only two signs needed to explain the situation. He had spun from behind me and slammed his body straight into my own. To make it worse, it wasn't just his body or head, even. It was his claws. His talon-like fingers were slashed and punctured deep into my back, and with a brighter pain, his paws were clenched, locking himself inside of my skin and pulling the meat from my body in a death lock. My vision grew black for a split second. The pain surged and spiked to a dangerous high. All nerves in my body went numb. My breath was stolen. My body went limp. Yet, my brain was still active, and I could feel and understood everything what was happening. I was too weak to continue, and I was only at the mercy of whatever would happen to me next, which I met very soon after. With an increase in speed and a few suddenly flips, it was clear to now state that we were closer to the ground than I thought, as my entire figure was soon dive bombed and smashed into the floor with a loud explosion-like boom of my body making contact from the velocity, his body weight was used to add an even more powerful strike. It was at that point, I had lost all physical consciousness, but was still intact to experience it all happening. What I had suffered through was worse than death itself.

My entire body first went entirely numb, as if all of the nerves within me exploded all at once, and replaced every sensor with excruciating pain. All the blood from within my body seemed to rush and slam into my skin and hide, but was unable to break through the barrier of my epidermis, thus filling my body with nothing but an entirely wet and cold feeling. My bones and joints ached and quaked, feeling as if they were all bent back and tied together twice, and then lit on fire to be melted and mixed. The wound from my neck spurted out blood at the impact. My vision blacked out that soon faded into a very blurry image, probably going to remain like that until the pain ceased. And the worse part of all of this? My voice. The shrill of undying agony rushed throughout the cosmos for as many as it could reach, which from the looks of it was only us, but it was a lot to say for a world that seemed to stretch on forever. It continued for longer that I was anticipating, just nothing but one long never-ending roar of pleads to make the hurt ceased, to attempt to make it die out before I did. As I soon ran out of my breath, my entire body followed within its action, and my head violently fell against the ground. Silent.

I felt as if I was barely clinging to life, but was still breathing faintly. So tired. So exhausted from the abuse my body was receiving. The only thing I pleaded for at this point, mixing my very faint paints with even more faint whimpers, was for it to end. But, it looked as if he had another plan. Still on top of me, with a jaw and fangs covered in my blood and claws still implanted within my back, his lips forming a despicable grin as he searched his prey. My eyes were lightly opened, but my presence was definitely there. He moved his head down slightly near mine, the blurry focus able to pick him out more. His eyes were still slits from the looks of it, and his maw was nearby my ear as he began to speak, the voice sounding echoic and clogged. "Still feeling brave, retard?"

His paws suddenly clenched, and my eyes were shot open as my entire being was soon thrown straight into a panic, back into the clear and crystal clean reality, but not in a good way. My body raised as the entire sequence happened once again, but now to the intensity of his grip. I screamed out in a large cry for help, doing nothing but just trying to fight off the pain that he was implanting. With some act of mercy, or maybe just to torment me, he released his grip, and I was returned back to my real state of mind. My vision was once again, blurry. I tried to get a grip on myself, tried to focus. Have to... Focus…

He smirked with nothing but the thoughts of death within his conscious, nudged underneath my chin at the large wound he had left within my neck, now covering the side and the underside of me in a puddle of red. With a sharp appearing forked tongue, he eagerly lapped it up twice before moving his maw back to my ear, whispering out the words to only mock his state of being. "You seem weak… Maybe you should take a nap… Hm?"

Taunting me, right in front of me while I was conscious. That sick bastard—

A sharp tightening in my back. A loud and more submissive cry of pain. Thrown back into the sequence. Relief ten seconds in. Back to my state. He was toying with me, like a crazed killer does with his victims. I couldn't take much more of this abuse. I could feel myself growing weaker from the lack of blood and the constant surges of pain. This had to stop, or else it would end automatically. An ending I did not want to witness. His eyes were scanning and watching me squirm under his will, chuckling with a low tone at my body being at his mercy. "It doesn't even seem as if you put up much of a fight. Are you sure you want to keep trying? You're humiliating yourself…"

Oh, how I wanted to growl. How I wanted to speak back and defend myself, but I could tell there was no energy to make that sort of decision. I was only focusing on one thing. Living. Catch my breath, try to relax. Try to ignore. C-calm down. Don't give in… Oh, how it was hard. Sleep sounded so nice. To rest forever. To be in peace… No, I can't. I wouldn't let it ever influence me to do something as ridiculous as that. How could I even consider that thought? Because I was tired… Because I could feel my body shutting itself down on its own, so it would be much better to just put myself out of my misery and do the work he was doing for me. N-no… I can't… Have to keep doing… Don't give in to those fake lies!

"Are you having fun?" His voice caught my attention, just slightly more clear than usual from the break that I was given. "It seems to me you're having more of a fun time fighting within your own mind than you are fighting with me. Of course, I'm not sure if you would have a better chance there than you did with me, so I am not one to judge about anything, heh." His neck lowered to look more at my panting and pitiful state before he continued. "However, I could just leave you guys alone, if you considered."

My eyes closed once, just thinking everything through the best I could through this entire situation. He, was me. But he wasn't me. So that meant he wasn't a part of me? No, he was, but wasn't. So he was in me, but not me. Yet, he was me. Quick headache flashed in. No, think wisely. He was in me, and he was a part of me, because… Because he pushed himself in. Y-yes. That made more sense. It was by force. So therefore, he was in me because he made himself. I was already having a battle, but… It couldn't have been a real one. This can't be real. But it feels so real. How could that be? It… wasn't real. It couldn't be. This is… All in my head. That was the only thing left. It had to be within my own head. So, this battle was… In my head? So, how was I here seeing this all? There was no real time to explain about this. I only needed some knowledge of this situation at current hand. This was all not real, it was fake. So, if I died, I wouldn't die in real life, would I? No… No, I would. Not physically, but definitely mentally. I would lose myself. I would lose my control. So what would I gain by defeating him? Control of my body? Yes. Forever? Maybe. Maybe not. He seemed to be a foe that wouldn't back down of a challenge, and being firmly implanted in this prison he might have just that to be able to do for access. He would attempt at any cost.

So, what was the objective of this entire situation, then? Stay alive? Yes, for sure. But, at least fight him off long enough to maybe even defeat him, not with power, but with time. It was worth a shot to try, for my body was pretty much in a bloody heap on the floor and his weight was keeping me still. My eyes scrolled up once and glared deep into his eyes, with of look of determination through the extremely prominent expression of exhaustion. I was surprised I could even get an entire word out, let alone a few phrases. "I… Will never… give… into you…"

His eyes went bold as he began to actually change his own expression. Now shocked slightly that I was remaining so tough, his grin had reversed into a slight frown, his eyebrows arched upwards between his nose and his claws loosened up from my back ever so tiny. It had only lasted for a moment before he regained himself, looking down at me with a glare just as evil. "I wouldn't think that way. We don't want you becoming too disappointed once you're unable to hold your words true… We don't want you becoming a liar, do we…?"

I gasped for a pocket of air through my very badly wounded neck, the pain there now beginning to take a toll on my lungs and my breathing, but I was surprising even myself more and more with the actions I was now incorporating into my words, a very slight shake of my head to signify 'no'. "I… Am not lying…"

"So you say now…" He finally removed a paw from my back, cutting the pain down to at least half. I inhaled out once in a sharp manner, relieved to have a break in the matter. From there, his blood covered claws were glided down my neck in the same manner as before as he stared up at me. "You know, I still commend you for your strength in, at least, the bravery department. You sure are willing to die. Not many would ever think that way. Maybe you're smart. Maybe stupid. We never know. Could very easily be one of the two."

"Let's just… Go with the… Smart one…" I expressed my opinion through heavy pants, the energy slowly but very surely beginning to refill my body.

He grinned slightly, only showing more of an evil side. "Fine. I never give pity, but I suppose it is right for this situation." With that being said, he tugged out his other paw that was much deeper than the first, having it removed with a small blood puddle forming from where the holes were from his claws.

Another heavy inhale from me. How it pained me so much to have it removed, but was a sudden relief to feel it gone.

With a small step to the side, his two covered hind paws were placed near my head as he circled around to the front of my face, lowering himself slightly to speak. "Well, then why don't you prove it right now?" As his head was lifted, his body was moved backwards a few steps to his original position such as before, only now much more visible from the natural effects from the very beginning no longer being present. Unfortunately, the small fading and reappearing effect was still present, only now more violent from my condition. "Go on. Stand up. Prove yourself strong, just as you say. We don't want you lying, do we?"

I remained against the ground, covered in blood from snout to tail tip, just a bloody heap of breathing skin and wounds. It appeared as if I was murdered and left for dead. That was exactly how things were played out, however. Though, most out of a merciful retrial than a victory. My tail flicked twice to the side very slightly as I felt myself finally rid of him around me, and was beginning to focus on my breathing more from the small safety of the moment. However, his words never seemed to stop. Instead, they were going darker and deeper by the moment, even beginning to fade and mingle with a higher voice, both spoken at the same time. The result was frightening.

"Come on, come on. Stand up. You say it as if it's so easy, so prove to me it's easy!"

My eyes closed for a moment, taking a deep inhale to fight back the pain as much as I could before I exhaled and reopened my eyes. With a very slight movement of hesitation, I began to very slowly arch my body and move my arms back into position, somehow stumbling and wobbling my way back onto my feet. He only watched with a pitiful smile until I finally stood to my feet, back facing him, and head lowered. I could sense he was staring right at me with that same stupid smile, and I was too weak to catch him with a sudden spin of 'See? I told you so!' But, just being able to stand up was an accomplishment to me. As I was very slowly turning my body, I heard his voice without having to even lift my head, or even my ears to focus. It was as if he was speaking right through my head. In a way, he was. "Aah, there we go. The brave knight of peace wasn't lying. Surprising! Alright then, go on. Prove it more."

My head was lifted slightly to inspect what he meant by those words before suddenly seeing him charged right for me, his paw already in motion. With a quick swipe upwards, I felt my entire body and feet lift off of the ground in a long half circle up through the air, flying backwards, and eventually meeting the ground with a heavy grunt in the same slamming fashion as before, not as strong but definitely as painful due to the other abuse I had fought through. Blood formed within my maw slightly as I gasped for air from the reapplied pain. He only chuckled.

"I thought you were being serious when you told me you were able to continue!"

In a quick boost of energy, I spun myself onto my side and blinked my eyes twice slightly, attempting to refocus from the sudden blow, but was reintroduced to how powerful his tail's swing could be, feeling it smashed against my side and sending me skidding back against the dead grass. After a stop, I was facing away from him once more, on my back, arms and legs sprawled out lifelessly, just gasping once more. At this point, he was only laughing at me and my worthlessness to the situation, and I could that was exactly what he was thinking of. I felt weak, like I was being thrown around like a ball. I had no motivation, Nothing. I felt dead. I was going to die. I couldn't even stand without being blasted back down. It was worthless.

As I was lying there, all hope lost, my ears picked up the faint sounds of footsteps walking towards me. Oh, no. Here he comes. His paws stopped at my snout and his maw opened up over mine. Throughout my very slightly opened eyes, I could see a hue of purple beginning to form, and the familiar sound of death becoming audible. I could sense exactly what was beginning now. I was trapped. I was in trouble. My eyes gently closed for its final time, just listening to the sounds and preparing for the final blow to be executed to me. I had no more strength. It was all over for me…


	3. Chapter 3

Among the mist of it all, the area soon and quickly died out of all noise, and I was left in black and absolute darkness, eyelids entirely shut and awaiting the final seconds of my life become extinct. However, despite the last horrifying noises and final amounts of pain, it all suddenly floated off and disappeared, as a bright light was shone in my direction. Hmm, curious… My eyes were lightly opened until they were eventually opened fully, and sitting up from where I was, I inspected the land. My vision was now, blurry on the corners of my eyes, as if there were small clouds forming along the 4 corners and faintly along the edges. The field I was sitting in was, restored back to its normal state like magic. Grass green and gently blowing in the breeze, sun out and bright with only two small clouds in the sky, meadows alive and well. Everything appeared as if it was back then.

Next, as I inspected myself, I noticed that all of my wounds had miraculously healed and were nowhere to be seen. My breathing was normal, my heartbeat was concise, and my mind was clear. I felt as if I had just taken a nap. What the… Was it really all within my head? Please don't tell me this was just a dream…

I effortlessly stood to my paws, inspecting the area in just a small heap of confusion. This was odd. Everything that was once here had returned within a 5 second time lapse. What made it even stranger was that, I was about to die. Now, suddenly the place looks brand new. Had I really died, and this was the other side I was expecting? If it was, definitely didn't hurt as much as I was anticipating, so I suppose it was a win/win situation if that was also implied. It all seemed too peaceful, too fast. It was actually a little uncomforting to know that just seconds ago, I was on the risk of getting shot, and now am sitting amidst the luscious fields of green once more. There was one little thing that was standing out aside from everything else, however. Something that caught my eye.

As I glanced down the never-ending meadows, I noticed two beings that were somewhat playing and relaxing. Creeping over with soundless steps, I made my way over to a gentle hill that was able to block me out of sight, but still watch them close enough to understand and hear their conversation. As I stared, I blinked twice at the realisation. It was… Me. I was with someone… Same exactly looking being, but… the markings were different. Why couldn't I put my paw on it? Blue stripes, smaller crest… The face looked familiar, but the name escaped me. No, wait… It was coming to me… I know now! That was.. Z-..Zaven… Yes. Zaven! My… mate! I smiled lightly at myself. Thankfully the hectic situation didn't allow me to forget, as I never would want to. However, there was just one question now. Why was Zaven suddenly in a place like this? Better yet, why was a second me there as well? I looked so… Happy.

With a gentle smirk, I heard their dialogue soon begin after they had rested down against the field that perked my ears gently. I listened deeply as they began.

"Zaven?..." The other me began with a somewhat saddened tone.

"Hm?..." He looked over at me with his normal grin of contentment.

The clone remained quiet for a few moments, gently sighing before continuing, staring up at the sky. "Nothing, sorry… I'm… Just scared."

Zaven stared at the other me with a look of concernment now. "Why's that?"

Once again, the clone remained quiet for just a quick moment this time before he explained himself. "Scared of… Everything. Things just get tough…" His head peered to him with a sad face. Due to reaction, I did as well.

Zaven stared with a growing expression of pity before wrapping a paw around the other me's neck to keep me close as he explained some things. "I know, but I know you're strong too… You can do it, I know it!"

"But… how? How can it be so easy…? How can you say it as if it's so easy…? You know about us, don't you..? Don't you know how hard it is for us to even get some peace? And now it's going to be longer… Just my luck." The clone's head was lowered to the ground, giving up fairly quickly about the situation.

"Well…" Zaven's voice trailed for a moment as he allowed himself a second to think, his paw just lightly around the other me's neck to keep him close. After a quick pause, he resumed and looked at his eyes. "That might be it, but we have been through this for a pretty long time together, haven't we?"

The clone blinked once in concentration and soon agreed with a small nod. "Yes…"

"And what does that prove?"

"That… We can tolerate each other for long periods of time?" The clone responded with a small smile, showing he was mostly kidding.

Zaven chuckled and hugged him closer. "Well, yes, but why can we?"

The other me grew silent once more, but responded with an expression of a light epiphany. "Because… Because we care for… each other?"

"And?" He smiled lightly at me as I continued to answer.

"Love... Each other?"

"Right. But, is that just because we're just mated?"

The clone blinked once, blocking out his instinct answer and focusing more on the question. "Uh… N..No? It's because we're... friends?"

Zaven tightened his paws around the little figure as he nuzzled down and began to explain the answer out. "Just because we're going through trials with each other for long periods doesn't mean that we hate each other or will forget about each other. You wouldn't forget a good friend that you knew that easily if he left for long moments in time, would you?"

"Well, no of course not…" The clone's voice rose in a bit of disgust at the thought. "Why would I forget a good friend if we were friends before he disappeared? It would be just like I'm using him or something…"

"Precisely… It only is true, if you allow it to."

Pause. The other me looked up. "Why do we feel this way about our friends?"

Zaven smiled softly. "Ask yourself that. You'll find the answer…"

The clone looked up and smiled at him slightly, as I did the same. But, he soon frowned and asked another puzzling question. "Then… Why is it still so hard? How come it's so difficult and always so frustrating… And now it's going to get nothing but worse from here. It only seems to get worse…"

Zaven's tone never changed from his calm volume as he answered the next one simply. "It can't test out what you've learned and help you get stronger than you already are if it's always easy, can it?..."

His eyes lightly opened as he shook his head. "No… it can't… So it's done to show us how much we've grown?" His eyed peered up at Zaven's with a small glimmer of hope, and his lips stretched out in a small grin as Zaven nodded.

Eventually, my ears were tuned out from their conversation as I laid there and listened to their constant speak of other life matters, or random speeches about food or bathing. Soon, it hit me with a small gasp of air inwards. He… Was comforting me. I smiled softly. I believe it was starting to now make sense… Yes! I should… Keep trying for him! I stood up in a little triumph stomp before immediately shrinking back down behind my hiding hill at the sound of an echoic voice down nearby them. As I looked, my eyes squinted at yet another being just like us. Soon after looking the details over, I tilted my head a bit, the name easier to flow in this time. Amethyst? What was she doing here? Was this like a meet-up that they were awaiting for? Behind her, was—Huh? Fahren? And… Scar? Now Vico. Skully? Wait, huh? Soon after, pretty much all of my friends were appearing one by one in a large group, chatting and smiling and… Laughing. I watched my clone's expression, and soon his face was smiling brightly in shock and delight. My eyes blinked at the sight. Okay, I see all of the beautiful dragons that are identical in species, and they were my friends. Wait. My eyes squinted more as I saw more figures coming over the small hills, completely different in shape. These were normal looking dragons now, even… dragons walking on two legs?! A dragon with four arms… And a completely blue dragon with smoky ice breath? This was getting ridiculous. There were so many dragons now appearing, and I could list each one by name just from their appearance. There were even different species of animals! Some weren't even animals at all! They were humans?! What the… Soon after the small shock of so many beings, a large epiphany hit me. These weren't just stranger and random people. These were… All of my friends. No matter what size, appearance, personality. Each one was there because each one was my friend. A person I cared and loved for and they loved me right back. They were my supporters along with my mate there with me first.

_They were my life._

That's… That's it. That has to be the answer! My brain soon ticked off a small light bulb. They were all of my friends. They all loved me. I loved all of them. They cared for me… They only wanted me happy. They wanted to help the best they could for all the help I gave them. They… They wanted me to—

With a small splitting headache catching my attention from the laughter and commotion, my eyes were soon clamped shut and immediately opened. The minute they were, it was as if I was teleported back into the first horrific world. Every inch of pain had returned, the area was as dead as before, and the devilish beast that stood above me had his maw wide open, now charging his deadly plasma blast just a few centimetres away from my own snout. My body, crippled from the pain, had remained in the same scrunched position, and my face was contorted into a fearful expression from the throwback into this first 'reality'. However, things had changed now. Things were different. Things were clearer. Things made sense.

_They made sense._

I had a purpose to keep going, to survive.

_I have a purpose…_

To live, not just for all of my friends, mate and family, but for… For…

_For me!_

I had to survive through this! Everyone would want me to do nothing but try my best. I don't—no—I can't disappoint them by giving up this quickly. Time to kick it up a few notches!

The second I finished that initial thought, the teal glow from my crest flashed once, sending an entire relieving feeling throughout my entire body. Most aches and even a few wounds disappeared and faded inconspicuously. My neck, although still showing a deep bite mark, stopped gushing out blood and healed enough for easy movement. My glow and energy rushed back through me, and I could feel every change immediately. My little opponent, however, could see nothing but my face switched into a smirk of complete resurrection of my hope and determination. Shuddering a bit, the plasma blast wavered slightly, forcing him to recharge, the perfect opportunity to finally make a move in this battle that was now going to have a surprising turn of events.

With a large and quick inhale, my own plasma charge up was sudden and fluent, so quick that he had no time to even react to the purple glow hitting his skin without a loud gasp of shock. I slammed my eyes shut and released the tension building from inside my maw, a larger-than-normal purple orb meeting straight with his snout, and upon impact, exploded with a blast radius large enough to send him rocketing backwards from my position, his entirely body now helplessly airborne, until meeting with the earth a few metres away in a loud thud and grunt. I jumped up to my feet, staring in his direction with a cautious crouch and a loud intimidating growl, watching him carefully as he stood to his own. It had felt as if I was recharged. I had a purpose. Vowing to myself silently, I exclaimed that no matter how difficult anything was, how hard this would be, or how weak I would get, I wasn't going down without a fight. Without having spent every last packet of energy from my well-being to keep trying and doing my best.

_Time for a change._


	4. Chapter 4

Among the sudden blow back to regain my footing, my eyes never left his stature. He wasn't going to leave my view that easily. His head shook twice in slight pain and overall disgust with himself falling for such a naïve blow, before returning the glare into my eyes with his bloody red pupils, which were in such thin slits from anger, it was barely visible from my position. His aura form the frustration had grown at least two times over as his bared fangs were exposed more. "Do you think this is a game? You really believe you are able to defeat me with sly movements such as that?"

Being more confident and strong of myself, this new aura and look was able to be resisted enough to retain my courageous stature. My gaze was never taken off of his, and a grin was still stuck to my lips. Being influenced by so much sudden bravery, I allowed myself to make movements without considering over them twice. "Well, you fell over from the so called 'naïve' movement, so I would believe they're effective enough over someone as brainless as yourself."

His eyes lit up as he snarled surprisingly louder than even he had before. With a heavy flap of his large wings and a quick flair of his nostrils, he crouched down into the ground out of rage, speaking through clenched teeth. "I will make you eat those words. I will turn you into a pile of useless scales!"

I, on the contrary, still remained calm and confident with a sly smile, just inspecting the anger unfolding more. Aw, he was so mad. How cute. Testing out the waters of his personality and, even having a little bit of fun, I very slowly lifted my paw up until it was pointed at him. Then, flipping it wrist up, I proceeded to flick it up twice towards me, motioning him to charge at me. With my tongue even parted past the side of my lips, I spoke out one calm response with half-closed bored eyes.

"Show me, then. I dare you."

As if the entire sky was following his mood, his head was lifted towards the sky as he released the loudest, deepest, and possibly most life-threatening roar from his maw, the sky's black shade shifted into the colour of his soulless eyes. I could literally feel the tension of his being snap from rage. How was I now afraid from this one bit?! Not even a smidge! How was this possible? Oh, right.

I had a purpose.

And he wasn't stopping me that easily anymore.

My ears were soon spiked upwards at the sound of quick and heavy footsteps charging at me in fast succession. My eyes peered over at the noise's source, and I soon took notice that his position was changing fast. Very fast. His body was practically a blur as his ears were blown back by the wind's resistance, and his paws were in such perfect sync that there was no chance of him stumbling. He roared with a wide maw, clamping his teeth shut with a loud chomp, and he lowered his head back down into a slump, staring at me with eyes filled of nothing but visions of my death happening in his sight.

I prepared myself for the second battle that would soon unleash in a quick second by spacing my paws and lightly gripping against the dirt, eyes squinted in focus. I was ready. It was time.

Let's do this.

The doppelganger soon punched in my direction with an intimidated snarl and claws extracted, but were simply avoided with a high leap above his entire frame. I quickly landed and spun myself around towards him as he forced himself to a skidding stop, and fired a quick ice blast as all my markings flashed blue. The evil clone quickly side-stepped before charging a large fireball to counter, all of his markings flashing a dark purple hue instead of the known original colours. Unable to judge the power correctly from the confusion of colours, I barely found the opportunity to dodge out of the large missile's path. It exploded in a small blast about twenty metres behind me.

My ear flinched at the noise of the burst as I released a tense exhale. With a flick of his tail, he regained his balance and only continued to expel out insults and taunts. "What's the matter, fucker?!" His voice was more mashed with the extremely deep and high octaves speaking at once. "Too scared to accept fate?! Does death scare you?! Failure making you run like the bitch you are?!"

I cut my eyes at him, the smirk having shifted into a serious straight face. "I was about to ask you the same questions."

He only hissed and dashed towards me once more, but this time with a blast forming. I leaped over his body a second time and he suddenly blasted towards my chest and stomach, but I coiled my wings downwards to cover myself and focused quickly, producing a quick force field around my wings that was able to absorb the blow. However, it was enough to knock the breath out of my lungs for a short moment due to the energy it was sucking from me.

Once again, I landed and we spun to face one another. It didn't even feel like a fight yet. Because it wasn't. He was testing out my abilities and scanning my behaviour to find the right times to strike. Exactly what I do doing my own battles. He scoffed once and rolled his eyes slightly in frustration, claws now dug deep into the ground. "Don't push your luck, meat. You don't know what I'm capable of."

"I know more than you believe." I responded back, now digging into my memory banks for the information. "If I understand correctly, you're me. Another part of me. It was forgotten for a moment, but I'm confident it's true. This place I might not be so sure of, but I know for a fact that you're the target I'm after."

His expression shifted gradually into an angry frown as I explained.

"You might be me, or part of me, but that doesn't mean you can control me. I won't let you, never."

"What about the struggles?!" He blurted out with a satisfying grin as he attempted to discourage me. "What about the difficulties every day? How much more tough it gets overtime? Why not allow me to take care of it for you? You'll fall eventually! You think it's bad now, it'll only get worse!"

"Granted, that's true…" I lowered my head slightly, but soon picked it up to his surprise with a bright smile. "But, that doesn't mean I stop trying. It's not an excuse to give up so easily. I know there are people out there, my friends and family that want me to give it my all. The ones who want me to succeed or at least do my absolute best, not just for then, but for me to. I'm not letting them down without a fight!"

The figure just laughed with his double voice, giving me a slight unsettling feeling. "Are you kidding me?! Come on. You're living in a fantasy. You really expect them to be there for you?!"

"Even if they're unable to help in physical terms, they are always there for the comfort and support in mental terms." I smirked as the scene of everyone gathered replayed through my mind. "That's the most important kind, and they supply it every day. I'm always grateful."

"How can just measly support help? It's worthless!"

My eyes scrunched a bit as a fire burned in my chest. "No. It's never worthless. Their support is the most important to me. It keeps me constantly reminded that I'm loved and cared for. To you it's worthless, but to me it's life."

"But it's just words! They have no meaning!" He responded with another small laugh.

"So you wouldn't mind if I told the truth of you being a useless excuse of existence and your low levels of insecurity and over-excessive anger is nothing short of a waste of space, fucker."

His eyes widened in shock at me, as did mine inwardly. I was surprised at what I just said. I never swear, unless I'm passionate about my speech, so I suppose now was an appropriate time. I only smiled at him outwardly with a knowledgeable smirk, mimicking his words back at him. "What? They're 'just words. They 'have no meaning'." I spoke through his snarl. "Words have meaning, if they are intended to have meaning. Words can also be a waste if the person is meaning for them too. So, what do you think it was in this case?"

"I would really hope it was the latter one or your ass will find out for you." He responded with a louder growl, scrunching his eyes at me as he clawed the ground twice to retain his somewhat sanity.

I could only gently giggle at him, and prepare myself for another attack. "Believe whatever helps you feel better about yourself."

His eyes cut at me before he lowered his head, actually beginning to now… Smirk? Now he was chuckling softly. A sudden intense feeling of fear struck my heart and broke my entire "tough guy act" clear down into the dirt. Something was off. This was not good. His chuckle soon evolved into a powerful laugh of a maniacal nature, his eyes dilated at different sizes, another quick lightning strike brightening the reddened sky. After his few seconds of heavy laughter, he peered straight into my eyes with a look of sheer insanity and complete unawareness of his well-being, his higher pitch starting to sound shrill and his lower pitch reaching deep octaves. "Are you nothing but a fool?! You speak as if you have no brain!" His teeth had somehow grown into a more violent and sharp look, the fangs beginning to actually poke through his own lips from the tips as he spoke, while his blood only served to encourage his behaviour. "You speak with a voice of a brave warrior, while within the body of a scared youngling! You believe all you're saying is true?! That you are able to believe all that you say so easily?! Alright then, you brave simpleton, put your words to action!" During his speech, his entire front side of his body was thrown up in a large roar, before immediately slamming back against the hardened soil. Within contact, a crack was heard.

My eyes widened. My head peered at the ground. In an instant, I could see small splits within the grounds tough surface as the clay was quickly starting to crack apart around his feet, and towards me. As it sped for my own paws, it was parting away from each other, leaving a giant gape from the carnage of the violent earthquake's tremors and shakes. I was forced to react fast, and could only jump to the right of the large gap, which sped behind me and soon cracked along the infinite space while curving around me and back for him, the entire surface of this world now covered in large abyssal lines. A split second after the shaking quickly stopped, it followed up with a very sharp movement upwards, throwing some of the closed areas into the air as large clay platforms with little support columns until the ground was barely visible from the cloud's mist and fog.

I scurried to my feet, scared for my life as the adjustment of wind and sounds hit my ears and overall posture, the wind having grown more powerful and the thunder and lightning being more active. My heart was now beating out of adrenaline as his true powers were slowly beginning to reveal themselves. He was able to do this? I guess now I figured that out.

His eyes were black, pupils almost unnoticeable within the black shades and pigment of his sockets. They only peered through my gaze, locking me in a paralyzing state of unstableness and complete fear. Then again, how would a normal being handle the situation of suddenly being hoisted metres and metres straight into the air by a sudden earthquake? And the ground below didn't look so inviting either. Although barely noticeable, the landscape was covered with nothing but gaping black abysses and spikes clenching onto the walls and remaining land that wasn't affected. The clouds felt dense against my lungs, difficult to breathe from many factors playing. This had to end, and it had to end now.

My ground was held, claws dug deep into the earth as my thoughts were revolving and continually spiralling through each and every tactic that I could remember. Each one that was available was scanned and immediately deleted or kept for later use. Nothing I could think of would be as affected now, but it was always worth a shot.

It was all I had left.

His speech soon began once again, but his words were quick and simple. "You're a fool. Now prepare for face a fool's demise." Without a sudden warning, the figure faded and reappeared quickly in sync with another placed lightning flash, Paw already up and claws swiping for me. As a last minute reaction, I could only form enough for a barrier between the last half of his swing, sending me skidding backwards a bit closer to the edge. After a quick stop and inspection, I saw a faint pressure line of his claws that had grazed against my neck. He had barely missed. I couldn't breathe much of a relief before he attacked again, a hard tail swipe this time from my left that sent me rocketing to the right. Off balance, I tumbled and rolled some ways before catching myself and facing towards him. I felt my foot slip and a quick crumble of the area underneath me. My vision scanned underneath me. Close to the edge.

I couldn't risk an aerial battle unless I wanted to see him tackling me straight into those spikes, or else, the pits of damnation. I had to think more strategically than just flight. My main mission was clear. Stay alive. Choosing one of my plans, I began to charge towards him, a stern look on my face. His maw opened as a fireball began to charge. Perfect. Immediately stopping, I revealed my own maw wide open, a quick burst of blue filling as a small ice spear was formed and fired in his direction. The spear made a direct contact with his opened mouth, freezing the ball of heat within its place before he could—

What?! How could he?!—

In as fast of an instant as I had stopped, I was struck with a large blue flame ball, quickly freezing my body in a burning chill that collected around my legs and neck. I hissed loudly. He knew about that. This wasn't good. The pain was enough to leave me stagnant in my position as I attempted to shake it off, just enough time for him to sprint behind me and ram his head against my side, topping me over a few metres away, now in the centre of the large battlefield. I gasped for air, the freezer burning finally having ceased, but now acquainted with a new pain due to the strike. I shook it off and stumbled back to my feet, inspecting the area once again. Another vanishing act? I was starting to get very tired of this.

My body was jerked and spun around as I scanned every possible area, my ears twitching and working overtime to sense the smallest sound possible. Nothing. All I heard was a faint deep laughter of his voice as I helplessly continued to spin. This was like a nightmare. He was my nightmare. With a loud clearing of his throat, my ears perked and my body spun behind me. There he was, just a few metres away, sitting there looking at me with a smirk. "What's the matter?" he spoke. "You look lost…"

"I... I'm not lost." I responded back.

"Of course you are." My eyes twitched slightly. That was his voice, but, his lips didn't move. And it came from… Behind me? I slowly tilted my head to the back, seeing him, again? Now he was behind me. "Look at you… Scared."

"I'm not scared about anything… more confused…" Why was I holding a conversation with him now?!

"That's pretty pathetic…" Another voice, now to the side of me. Yet again, another him, now with sharp fangs extended proudly. "Confused and scared… Well, I suppose all infidels feel that way."

"What's that supposed to mean?..." My voice slightly deepened. I attempted to portray a stern and strong behind, but my eyes and slightly trembling body structure proved otherwise.

"You know exactly what that means." Now to my right? A figure of him, now slightly closer than the others. "Don't play dumb. You know you're scared…"

"S-..Scared of what?"

"Scared of life…" The one I was facing luckily continued to speak for me. "You're scared of me. You do know what I stand for, correct?..."

"… I have a hunch."

"And what is that hunch telling you? I wouldn't hide it, lest you wish to look more pathetic than your already vulnerable body presumes."

"You stand for… Fear itself?"

"More than just that… You're lucky I'm even allowing you to speak to me. I should have cut you up by now." A small lump in my throat as I swallowed from the tension. He only smirked and continued. "Your fears. Your dislikes. Your hate and your despair. All of your little thoughts that you keep stored within that chamber you describe as a brain. I see them all. I stand for them all." His head tilted a bit, more out of a mocking tone than anything else. "And you fear all of this stuff, like a weakling… What are you scared of? Scared of approval?" His paw gently lifted and stepped towards me intimidatingly.

My eyes met with it suddenly before hearing the one in front confronting me as well. "Scared of acceptance?" His own paw moved forward in the same motion.

"Disapproval?" The one on the left, same movement.

"Discomfort?" Behind me, same movement.

Each one continued to list out another as they moved closer and closer into me. I could only spin and listen to the four's questions, attempting to answer them through stutters.

"Fearing dishonour?"

"Loss of love?"

"What about hatred towards you?"

"Being different making you feel closed?"

"Perhaps it's the lack of 'normality' holding you back?"

"Or even yourself feeling justified for being you?"

"Possibly your mannerisms and your actions?"

The figures continued to bombard me with questions, but now at a faster and more hectic rate, starting to mix their questions in together in a hectic frenzy of yelling, their footsteps were still slow, but their facial expressions and actions were more and more threatening.

"Don't think you're going to be loved anymore!?—"

"—et they don't really find you as a nice gu—"

"—ybe you really should kill yourself—"

"—ally think they love y—"

"—u'l never get to where you want! You're worthle—"

"Heartless idiot!—"

"—othing but a fake!—"

"—hey only love normal people, why would they ever l—"

"—ecause that feeling of being a mistake is true!—"

"You are a mistake!—"

"Mistake!"

Their voices screamed out at different intervals, now only a metre away from me. They slashed and attempted to smack me around with their bare paws and, sometimes even claws. I was trapped in this circle of abuse and suffering. Kicked and pushed around from one straight into another right against another. All chanting, 'Mistake! Mistake!' My heart was more affected than my body was, although the few large scrapes and claw markings were definitely a painful experience. Finally, with a heavy slap, I was rammed into one that soon grabbed my ears with his maw and yanked my head upwards. I stifled a yelp before he returned his snout close to me, speaking in a low and evil tone. "You feel like a mistake? All of these thoughts are getting overwhelming, huh?..."

I only whimpered slightly. I couldn't say much else.

"You think that way, because it's true. You think you have a purpose? Think again. You're scum. Trash. You're worthless. Nothing. Those thoughts are continually just being bottled up for me to examine and see that they're all right in calling you a mistake. You're different. You're a mistake. A mistake that believed he actually had a chance. Pitiful. Mistakes shouldn't be loved. Mistakes shouldn't live."

My blood ran cold as a familiar scrapping was felt on my paw. Glancing down with only my eyes, I depicted a claw positioning itself along my leg. They soon met straight into his. Nothing but black.

"So, if they shouldn't be allowed to live…"

I softly bit my lip out of pure terror as he finished his thought.

"Why are you?"

Braced for it, I clenched my eyes and grunted loudly as his claw was forced straight into my arm. Blood began to run down and along the surface of his skin. They were soon slightly opened at the pain that was settling in. With a devious smile, all of his claws were soon extended and embedded within my skin along with the first. Another clenching and loud whimper at the feeling of daggers being stabbed within me. I felt helpless now, both physically and now emotionally. My own thoughts were fighting and rioting against one another as an intense response, attempting to push together the puzzle pieces and regain control. There was no use. I was worthless.

I'm nothing but a mistake.

With a quick and easy push, his paw was dislodged from my arm as the leftover pain forced me down to the ground in a wobbling and whining heap. The smell of blood soon returned to my nostrils from the pool formed from the aching limb. I panted heavily, never removing my face from the growing red circles that were beginning to reappear like magic. His voice only continued to speak to me in his low and soft type of evil tone.

"Isn't it getting too hard to keep going?... Look at how much your poor self is beginning to struggle. You truthfully believe you are able to just keep pushing on like that? This is a shame… Pretty sad to watch, even for me. Something struggling for the life that it will soon lose." His claw was lowered and softly lifted my head up, the tip slightly pricking through my hide as he spoke in a gentle tone. "Do you want it to stop? I'll make sure it's fast. No more suffering for you."

Why did those words sound so nice. No more suffering? No more pain? Granted, he was the one that just kicked me around, but there was something about that specific frequency that was… Surprisingly soothing. Even hypnotising. It sounded relaxed and sincere, yet… It was a lie. I knew it was, but why did it feel like the truth? What was going on… The thing that had happened. The trials that I had faced and went through. The constant struggling that was currently being endured throughout this entire match, only showed the obvious truth. I was going to die. I would die if I attempted to continue like this. There was nothing I could do. This was my final choice. Give in to his final blow in a sacrificing manner, or continue to fight for my life and end up dying in a more painful death. Both of them were indeed rather terrifying, but there was nothing else I could consider a wise choice. I had to just make it end. It had to stop… make it stop… No more pain. I was done. I am done. Make it stop…

The voice only continued from his direction. "Friends might be your support system, but there is nothing that is enough to help aid a mistake such as yourself. Nobody. Their support? False. They don't care, they give you pity. They know what you are and how low you actually are. Yet, they don't want to break your heart with that truth. Why waste their time with a mistake?..."

Mistake. Mistake. Mistake. This word had been repeated for only a few minutes and it was beginning to eat me on the inside. Everyone… Actually hated me? But never showed it? No, that can't be it, but why did it… Never. I would never even think about giving into a lie such as that. But, if that wasn't the truth, what is there?

My attention was snapped back to his when his heavy huff blew against my snout. Having obviously noticed my zone out, he spoke with a firm tone. "So, would you like me to end it for you? It is very fast. I'll give this mistake the place it deserves."

At this point, there was no more time to waste on quick conclusions. I couldn't give up, but the thoughts I had for now weren't enough to fight aback the feeling I was having. Was there something else? What was it? There had to be something else that pieced them together to make more sense. I'm a mistake. I have support… Think…

During the sequence of his claw softly scratching against my neck in preparation, my mind was racing through every single motive and thought that I had stored up from my life until this point, searching for an answer. Who I was, what I did, who I had as friends, family, backup, what I've liked and disliked, the events that I've gone through, the things that shaped me. There had to be an answer that tied in. I was mentally stabbing myself at this point. After a period of never-ending stress and pressure, the answer suddenly flashed forward in my vision.

"Why do we feel this way about our friends?"

Words from the past flashed back through.

"Ask yourself that. You'll find the answer…"

"Ask yourself that."

"Ask yourself."

My eyes were slowly beginning to open wider in realisation throughout my body's current status. That was… it. That was the missing puzzle. They were my inspiration, but the reason why was left unnoticed until this moment. However, it became clear. The reasons, the feeling, the words. All tied together in a perfect web. My eyes soon met with his as I finally spoke. "…No..."

His head cocked to the left. "Eh? No? Don't tell me you're feeling brave again."

"… I am a mistake."

His devil smirk never escaped his lips. "Ah, glad you're understanding."

"But—"

Immediately, his expression shifted into a shape of shock and anger. "'But'…?"

I blinked calmly. "So is everyone else…"

His claw dug a bit deeper into my neck, causing me to wince slightly, more from nervousness than pain. "Explain yourself, waste…"

I did as he asked and began to explain my reasoning. "You claim I'm a mistake… A thing that can never be loved… 'No one would ever love a mistake'…But what if that mistake is loved by other mistakes? Doesn't that make it right?"

For once, his expression was more in shock of a lack of words. "Uh—"

Bingo. My stance slowly began to grow stronger from the returning energy as I began to stand up, pushing his body back with some resistance. "Everyone is a mistake… Everyone has a flaw that makes them a 'mistake', something that doesn't deserve love… Something that would corrupt them entirely and strip them of their affectionate needs. But, that mistake can always receive help from another mistake. They fit in the same category, no?"

His teeth were barring, the sky beginning to grow more violent and chaotic with louder clashes of thunder and bright flickers of lightning. "Knock it off…"

"Mistakes are corrupted enough to be together, for they are both stripped of their opportunity for love. However, the mistakes have their own issues that must first be overlooked…"

"Stop it…"

"So if all have a mistake about themselves, what would there be to judge on someone else if you have your own flaw?"

"I said shut up."

I ignored and continued. "What would you say? You're not perfect, you're also a mistake. You have no way to tell them what is right if you're too imperfect to give the information. So overlooking becomes more of an option."

The thunder roared louder as he snarled slightly. "You ramble too much…"

Once again, I ignored. "But in the case where each mistake is no longer able to receive the opportunity to gain affection, they will get lonely and crave for it more. And with the situations at hand where they finally have others that are compatible with them to do so—"

"Shut up!"

"—and they are able to both receive the affection—"

"Will you piss off?!"

"—they are both finally able to receive that affection and care they longed for, together." I had finally stood to my feet, staring at him. Battered and bruised, bleeding and huffing for the air to regain my composure entirely. "There is nothing more necessary than for a mistake to feel loved by someone. But when they're loved by more than one person,—"My head flashed to the large group of friends gathered in the meadow. I smiled softly before continuing. "—it makes the power of that person's strength stronger than one could possibly imagine."

"What are you saying? Spit it out."

My eyes locked, firm stare. "Love overlooks all flaws. All are a mistake. All deserve nothing but ignorance. But with the love one mistake has for another, to each other, they are—"

"Don't say it."

"Are—"

"Don't say it, you damn fool!"

"Perfect."

"Gaaaaaah!" His head lifted in a thunderous roar of rage, lightning in sync as his sprint was aimed in my direction. "I'll make you fucking eat those lies!" With a swing of his paw, it contacted with—

Another paw? My semi-closed eyes slightly peeked at the obstacle it had hit. Trailing my eyes upwards at the figure, I noticed the smaller crest instantly. "Zaven…"

Without time to speak, he quickly blasted the doppelganger with a flash of light, and then stood by my side with a protective wing over my body. I only stared at him in complete shock, but couldn't question his presence at this point. I could only be grateful for his appearance, and noticing my gaze, he smiled lightly, taking in my gratitude telepathically. The clone shook his head and snarled. "Who the hell are you supposed to be?!"

Zaven shook his head twice at the recovery and squinted at the figure. "I'm Zaven, this mistake's mistake."

My heart fluttered lightly at hearing that. Whereas, his snarls only increased in disgust. "And why are you here?! You want to die too?!"

"No, I would much rather keep this mistake close to me, thank you very much."

"But… He's worthless!"

"Not to me. To me, he's everything." His head glanced down back at me before continuing his conversation. "To me, he's perfect."

My heart was continuing to lightly flutter at the circumstances that were occurring, both from the compliments and the knowledge I had just obtained.

Zaven continued to speak. "I'll protect him with my life if I have to. You will not touch another piece of him." With another quick glance, his head softly lowered down and licked some of the blood off my shoulder, helping to clean it.

I smiled widely, now full of energy despite my appearance.

"What is there to love about a mistake?! They're… Failures!"

"My friends are never failures to me, they're my friends." Zaven spoke out. "Friends care about the other person enough to be their friend. They love them."

"Loving mistakes is nothing but a mistake!"

"Well, we're all mistakes, so I suppose it works out, huh?" Zaven smirked slightly. "He might be a mistake, but he's perfect to me."

Man, if my smile had grown anymore, my lips would have ripped off. I chuckled lightly and looked up at him, staring at his determined face. He seemed so strong on his thoughts about me. It was powerful. However, my ear seemed to twitch when I heard another voice behind us.

"He's perfect to us, too!"

All of our attentions were focused on the noise in the back, followed by… My mouth dropped in amazement at the familiar sight. All of my friends, stationed in a battlefront line, stood with the same firm expression as Zaven. Each of their expressions matched in both appearance and power. Amethyst, who was in the front of the line, and the voice of the call, smirked at me with a sisterly grin. "You really think we wouldn't think that way? Silly dragon…"

I perked. Then smiled, and finally smirked mischievously as my head followed in front at the clone, with my army of trustworthy friends backing me up. His face had contorted into unsurely panick and now full fear. Now with more confidence, I spoke. "So a mistake can't be loved, huh?"

He could only stutter his attempt at speaking. "N-nono impossible! T-this c-can't be tru—Y-You all are just lies! All of you!—"

As he babbled continually, I soon felt… Different. Like… Powerful. Stronger than before. And… it wasn't stopping. The power only felt like it was growing. I felt like I could jump mountains. Canyons? I had enough energy to fly around the world twice now. Ten times? I was getting overconfident, but it felt as if the energy I was gaining was granting me that possibility. Heck, maybe it was even possible at this point! I scanned around for any cause of this sudden transfer of power, and spotted the source instantly. All of my friends, including Zaven, were now beginning to glow a faint teal aura around their entire bodies. All eyes were closed, heads lowered slightly. Upon further inspection, my… Crest was beginning to glow as well. I understood what had to be done. Time to end this.

Already aware of the event occurring, the clone attempted to flee with loud, high pitched roars of anxiety. My maw was soon wide open, inhaling a deep breath as I felt the entirety of the overall strength filling my lungs. This final blast had to be it. With all my focus put into this one shot, I stimulated the effects tenfold, amplifying the size, power, and overall pressure of the blast. My maw had transformed into a bright purple plasma glowing cannon. As he attempted to flee, one last thought ran through my brain.

"Goodbye, mistake."

I soon released the heavily charged blast, practically sending my body skidding backwards slightly from the blowback. The heavens lit up in an intense bright white light as the plasma charge was spread out at least twenty times its normal size at forty times the speed. My eyes were slammed shut as I felt the impact to my own body during the blast, myself slowly draining and shutting down. The blast extended further out the farther it travelled, covering the entire landscape in front of me with a blast of light. The clone's shrieks were heard. The area lit up in a blinding light. But soon darkened into a pitch black, my consciousness soon following as I blacked out.


	5. Chapter 5

Moments later, my eyes were slowly reopened as my consciousness returned. Taking a few seconds to adjust my sight, I noticed I was in a cave, lying on my side in a spiral curl with my wing draped out in front of me, my usual resting position. When outstretched and inspecting my person, I appeared to have been perfectly fine. No cuts, bruises, scars. Well, except the one on my eye. In fact, I felt more refreshed. Turning my head to the cave's opening, the sun was shining its daily rays along the green landscape, birds happily chirping. I groaned to myself. Please don't tell me this was all a dream… It felt too real to have been… Stupid ridiculous bullcra—

My train of thought was derailed by the sounds of a loud thud, followed by happy giggles. When my perked ears finally relaxed, I began to quietly sneak over and investigate. Upon reaching the entrance to the cave, I sat in the shade and watched what was happening, soon with a small smile. Typical Nightfury family business. The laughs, giggles, constant silly endeavours with someone running into a tree, or getting bonked by a branch. Everyone seemed at peace. And with that, my mind relaxed as well.

It soon was confirmed. The reason love was so important to all of us was now set as a permanent mindset within my being to help my choices for the future. It wasn't a dream. It was a revolution. It was important.

It was a mistake. A mistake that was perfect.


End file.
